Grandmaster Han was on the Board of Directors of the Korean Tae Kwon Do Federation in its early days.[citation needed] He helped design the Palgue forms presently used by the World Tae Kwon Do Federation.[citation needed] Grandmaster Man Hee Han is the founder of the Youn Wha Ryu System of martial arts. It is based in traditional Tae Kwon Do, incorporating elements of Hapkido, Karate, Kung Fu and Judo.

Creator Of Battle Of Columbus, Olympic Coach, Founding father of Oriental Martials Arts College, coached teams in the 3rd World Taekwondo Championship - 1977 in Chicago where the team became 3rd place in the world;, 1988 U. S. National Team Coach for the Seoul Olympics which brought home 11 medals, US women’s Team became 1st place in the world and the Men’s Team became 2nd place in the world.

Chung, Sun Yong

9th dan

c. 1940

Portugal

Father of Taekwondo in Portugal (1974)

Founded the Portuguese Taelwondo Association

Author of the first Taekwondo book ever published in Portuguese language (1975) also distributed in Brazil

Founder of Moo Sool Do and President of World Academy of Martial Arts Association. Korean National Champion (1963-1965). Kukkiwon Advisory Council (2008). Hall of Fame - U.S. Taekwondo Grandmasters Society. Former President, U.S.T.U. Michigan Tae Kwon Do Association.

Promoted to 9th dan by the KTA; Chairman of the US Olympic Taekwondo team 1988. Inducted into Taekwondo Hall of Fame 2009

See main article

Lee, Bum-I

9th dan

1938–

Germany

President of the German-Korean culture Federal e.V. (DKK e.V.). Chairman of Taekwondo Instructor Association in Europe. Chairman of the European Taekwondo delegation in Korea. Highest Dan-grade of Europe (1985) and "father of Taekwondo" in Germany. Lives in Hannover.

Executive Council member of the World Taekwondo Federation; Major player in having WTF Taekwondo recognized as an official Olympic sport; Goodwill Ambassador for the 50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Korea and Canada, from 3 October 2012 – 31 December 2013. Founded his own Taekwondo school in Ottawa.

Highest ranked non-oriental Taekwondo black belt in the world. The only registered non-Korean posthumous 10th dan in the Kukkiwon. Only non-Korean honored at the Taekwondo Park in Seoul, Korea. Founder of the United States Chung Do Kwan Association.

Chairman of Board of Education of Kukkiwon; former Vice Chairman of Education of the WTF; author of taekwondo textbook. Uses Western and Eastern Medicine concurrently with great success. Became an M.D. in 2000. Published medical scientist in over 10 journals and one book. Life dedicated to helping the sick return to health.

Former national coach of Denmark - "Today Ko Tai-Jeong teaches Taekwondo at a Danish højskole (literally: high school) a unique Danish type of boarding school for adults dedicated to lifelong learning. The 9th Dan Grandmaster is also the central figure and role model for Sim Uu, a special interest group under the Danish Taekwondo Federation (and thereby World Taekwondo)" Reference: The Smiling Taekwondo Pioneer.

Former trainer of the South Korean National Team, former Trainer of the Austrian National Team, Kukkiwon Award for his Life Contributions to Tea Kwon Do, Technical Competition Director for the Austrian Tak Kwon Do Association (ÖSVT); Hosted the Austrian Tae Kwon Do Championchip in 2015

*Kukkiwon Certificate number: 05001899
*first female to be awarded the World Taekwondo Federation certification for international level referee credentials
*Highest ranked non-asian Kukkiwon female in the world
*President of the United States Chung Do Kwan Association

are ranked 9th dan by the ITF (and thus officially recognised as 'Grand Masters' within that system);[37]

are notable as individuals; and

are notable for their contribution to taekwondo.

Name

Rank

Life

Residence

Prominence

References

Weiss, Earl William

9th dan

1955-

United States

One of the last people to test for master's rank under Choi Hong Hi, Earl Weiss is a 9th dan black belt in the ITF style of Taekwon-Do. Weiss is a prolific author on the topic of Taekwon-Do and is a frequent contributor to publications such as Totally TaeKwonDo magazine.

President of one of the three ITF organisations; son of H. H. Choi; involvement in Korean political controversy. Choi Jung Hwa was born on Cheju Island, Korea on 22 May 1951 and has studied Taekwon-Do since the age of 7, not only under his father, but also under many high ranking and pioneering Taekwon-Do Masters during their visits and stays with General Choi. He served many years on the ITF Executive Board and, later on, Choi Jung Hwa would assist General Choi on many of his International Seminars throughout the world, and later would be appointed by the ITF to conduct these International courses on General Choi’s behalf. Grandmaster Choi held the post as Secretary General of the ITF for several years until elected as General Choi’s successor to the presidency by the ITF members in 2001 at the ITF Congress. Choi Jung Hwa was promoted to 9th-degree Black Belt in 2004 and to the rank of Grandmaster, is the only son of the founder of Taekwon-Do General Choi Hong Hi.

GM Hwang was one of the first three instructors that General Choi, Hong Hi promoted to the rank of 9th Dan. The list consisted of FGM Rhee, Ki Ha UK-9-1, GM Hwang Kwang Sung K-9-1, and GM Charles "Chuck" Seriff A-9-1 who was also the first non-Asian to receive this honor.

GM Hwang began studying at the age of 11 and received his 1st Degree in Tang Soo Do in 1957, his 2nd Degree in 1961, his 3rd Degree from the I.T.F. K-3-40 September 18, 1968, staying loyal to General Choi Hong Hi through the years. He was at General Choi's side where he transcribed General Choi's last words. GM Hwang retired a captain in the ROK Army where he had instructed The Korean Tiger Division, The Korean Army, The U.S. Marines, U.S. Army, Marine, and the Vietnamese Army receiving many Commendations. GM Hwang simultaneously served as special assistant to General Choi, official spokesman of the ITF, chairman of the ITF promotion and merger committees, and Secretary General of the ITF. GM Hwang also served as the head of the KoreAmerica Taekwon-Do Union as requested by General Choi Hong Hi. GM Hwang is now head of the International Taekwon-Do Federation Unified. His mission is to carry on his previous duties as requested by General Choi to work to unify all who practice Taekwon-Do.

One of only two students that tested and promoted to 5th Dan at the first Korean Tae Soo Do Association exam in 1962. First correspondent from South Korea to Black Belt Magazine(1964–68). Founder of The International Chayon-Ryu Martial Arts Association. Author of three Taekwondo Books (Ohara Publications): Palgue 1-2-3 of Taekwondo Hyung, Palgue 4-5-6 of Taekwondo Hyung, Palgue 7-8 of Taekwondo Hyung, and one Taekwondo book published in Russia.

Studied under Gen. Choi before coming to the US in 1971. He served as an instructor with the Korean National Police Agency. Served in the Oregon Army National Guard as a Colonel. Founder of Kim's United Taekwon-Karate Center. Life long student of martial arts including western boxing, Judo, Sumo and Taekwon-do.

Founder of Mang Ho Ryu Tae Kwon Do System in 1993. Tae Kwon Do System was named by Grandmaster Kang Rhee, Memphis, Tennessee United States. Grandmaster Jay "Flying Tiger" Blanton has wrote 2- books on Prevailing Against being bullied,1- book on his Tae Kwon Do Martial Arts system history and his training, and an Anti-Bullying Program for schools, colleges,etc. He has been in many martial arts magazines, newspapers, TV news and talk shows. Has won many awards for his community work with bullying and working with Veterans with P.T.S.D.

Grandmaster Kang Rhee was the Instructor of Elvis Presley and Bill "Super Foot" Wallace and many others.[citation needed]